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Fighting-Machine
The Tripod Fighting Machine are the main weapons of the Martians use when they attempt to conquer Earth. They are assembled in the pits by Handling Machines before activation and use by the Martians themselves. Each tripod is armed with a a single heat ray to start of with but later were also armed with a Black Smoke Chemcial Launcher. They also posess an unspecified amount of tentacles. It's "head" is posible and turnable. It's heatray is caried by a retractible arm. The tripod as a whole appears as if it is made from a substance like aluminium. They contain a 'Metal Basket' used for capturing humans to be used as food. There have been many depictions of the tripods throught the time War of the Worlds has existed. Tripods in other media The tripod is featured in two films based on War of the Worlds. Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds The most recent film adaptation of War of the Worlds features an amazing tripod design. It is shaped like a cuttlefish, has 18 tentacles, two "heat rays" that desintegrate humans, headlights for "eyes", rubbery/tentacular legs and two baskets for storing humans. In this adaptation, the tripods have been waiting beneath our feet for countless millenia, to be activated by the returning aliens. It sees through a camera on one tentacle. It's feet have three prongs. The sound it emits is very similar to the "UUUULLLAAAAAAA" of the book. The Steven Spielberg Tripods also have a form of energy shield like George Pal's 1953 Swan/Manta Machine (see below). Steven Speilberg's Tripod also had a Probe Tentacle, used to scout the remains of derelict structures. They also had Red Weed Fertiliser sprays on their sides used to fertilise the Red Weed. George Pal's War of the Worlds In the 1953 adaptation of the War Of The Worlds by renown sci-fi director George Pal, models resembling Manta Rays with a Heat Ray "Swan-Neck" were used to portray the Tripod Fighting Machines. These machines hovered in the air like a spaceship. Apparently, there are three Electromagnectic Legs that caused these hover effects. These legs are only visible at the start of the film because the film-producers deemed the One million volts needed to create the effect was too dangerous. The EM legs were later seen as 'sparks' under the machine throughout the rest of the film. George Pal's Machine boasted a large array of weapons, including two wintip mounted "Skeleton-Beam" cannons and a Swan Neck Heat-Ray emmiter. It also has an energy "blister" that acts as a shield to protect the machine from enemy fire. This shield was powerful enough to withstand the effect of the "Most Powerful Atomic Weapon" at the time, dropped by a Flying-Wing bomber. Like Steven Spielberg's Tripod Design, George Pal's Manta-Machine had a sort of "Electronic Eye", used to scout inside Derelict Buildings. Another film also featured tripods. The period piece Pendragon Pictures The War of the Worlds utilizes rod pupetry and CGI. It is silver, with a cockpit and a retractible heatray. It has four chain-link tentacles, 3 articulate legs and a basket for storing humans. Instead of emiting the famous ULLA cry, it screeches a high-pitched howl. This design is often frowned upon, criticized as looking like "Giant Space Chickens". In the film Scary Movie Four, the film uses refrences to the movie. In the film, the tripod is shaped like a giant ipod.